Liberty, O'Connor break through to get to 6A boys hoops final for first time
Peoria Liberty and Phoenix Sandra Day O'Connor made history Wednesday night.
Both won boys basketball 6A state semifinal games to advance to the championship game for the first time in their histories.
No. 10-seed Liberty defeated No. 6 Phoenix Pinnacle 79-77, and No. 5 O'Connor stunned top-seed Anthem Boulder Creek 75-61.
They will meet Saturday at 2 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the boys basketball 6A title. It's an all-Desert Valley Region final. O'Connor (21-9) and Liberty (18-12) split regular-season meetings, with Liberty winning 82-76 on Jan. 23, and SDO winning 65-60 on Feb. 2.
Nobody expected Liberty to get this far, after graduating the bulk of its scoring from last year's team that went 22-7 and lost to Perry 79-60 in the Open Division state quarterfinals.
But coach Mark Wood calls this a "players-led" team that finds strength in each other, pulling the best out of one another.
"They have taken the challenge of lifting the ceiling of our program in honor of those alumni who sacrificed before them," Wood said. "This means a lot. Several on this team actually played in our Chaos youth program.
"They have all foregone self-interest and worked for the betterment of the whole. It's all of them."
It starts with 6-foot-11 senior Ring Nyeria, one of the state's best rim protectors, who had 22 points against Pinnacle. Wing Jackson Hunter added 23 points.
But senior reserve Stephan Miller was huge, scoring 28 points, including 15 in the final quarter, when the Lions outscored Pinnacle 29-22.
They overcame Pinnacle guard Tommy Randolph's 25 points. This was one of the rare games this season that Pinnacle had its two best players, Randolph and 6-6 wing Braylon Johnson, on the court at the same time. Randolph missed most of the season with an injury. Johnson missed last week's quarterfinal rout of Mesa Dobson.
Johnson added 16 points.
Simcoe brothers pave the way for SDO
Michael and John Simcoe were clutch in O'Connor (21-9) breaking through to the 6A final for the first time. In the 75-61 win over Boulder Creek, the Eagles beat the Jaguars for the first time after falling twice to them in the regular season.
Holding a five-point lead at the half, John Simcoe scored to open the second half. Michael Simcoe added another basket, before Boulder Creek, behind 6-8 Andrew Bhesani and point guard Rowan McKenzie, rallied to take a 50-45 lead.
John Simcoe's 3-pointer gave the Eagles a 51-50 lead, and Blake Colvin added another 3 to give them a four-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
O'Connor went on a 21-11 run over the last eight minutes, as Rylan Parsley added a 3.
"We wanted to pressure them more in this match-up more so than the first two," SDO coach Josh Cole said. "We have been afraid to do it in the past because of their shooting and passing ability.
"They are extremely well-coached and had to have multiple plans to beat them. This is the first time in school history making it to the championship and it is just a testament to the boys and coaching staff and their ability to sacrifice for the group. Michael Simcoe is one of the best players in the state and he showed that on both ends last night.
"John was great last night. Most people will look to his points and two big 3s he hit in the 2nd half. But his consistency defensively and rebounding is something we really count on."
Tops seed Ironwood, Casteel advance to 5A final
Top-seed Glendale Ironwood overcame No. 4 Gilbert Higley 71-68, and No. 2 Queen Creek Casteel needed two overtime periods to finally put away No. 3 Waddell Canyon View 67-60 to advance to Friday's 8 p.m. 5A state championship game at the Coliseum.
Senior guard Noah Gifft had 20 points to lead Ironwood (26-3). Luke Haugo, one of the top quarterbacks in the state in football, had 18 points for Higley. He helped turn Higley's season around after becoming eligible in the second half of the season.
Haugo's 3 with under a minute to play cut the score to 69-66. I'yar Shadowvine hit two free throws for Ironwood to make it a two-possession game and the Eagles would hold on.
Casteel (23-6) is making it to the 5A state championship game for the first time in school history. Ironwood's only other appearance resulted in a title over Millennium in 2020 just before COVID hit.
Coach Aaron Windler has done a great job building Casteel into a team capable of taking home the gold ball.
Senior forward Kaelum Brown had 27 points with senior forward Aidan Schmidt adding 19 points for the Colts.
Canyon View (25-6), which had a coaching change in the first half of the season, got 19 points from Denali McNeal and 20 points from Quincy Kirk. Kirk's 3 at the end of regulation sent it to overtime.
Deer Valley, Sahuaro meet for 4A championship
On Monday night, Glendale Deer Valley (26-4) got past Gilbert Mesquite 51-48, and Tucson Sahuaro (24-4) stunned No. 1 American Leadership Gilbert North 55-51 in 4A semifinals.
Deer Valley has never won a title, placing runner-up four times, but will try to break through Thursday night at 8. They play against Sahuaro, a school that has its gym named after the late Dick McConnell, who led the Cougars to four state championships, the last one coming in 2001.
Sahuaro outscored ALA Gilbert North 15-7 in the final quarter to get there. Cisco Llamas and Ayuma Lara each had 12 points and Nick Ponds added 11 for Sahuaro.
Jed Dunn led Deer Valley to last year's 4A final, before falling to Peoria. Guard Sergio Gonzales made sure that Deer Valley had a return trip to the championship game, scoring his team's final 11 points.
Deer Valley was down 41-34 entering the final eight minutes. Teddy Johnson and A.J. Ajawin got the Skyhawks rolling early in the fourth with big plays before Gonzales took over.
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Liberty, O'Connor break through to get to 6A boys hoops final
